Knitted metallic fabric for belting and other uses



April 7, l1942. R) L. HARTwELL 1 2,278,926

KNITTED METALLIC FABRi FORIBELTING AND OTHER usEs Fi1ed Feb. 15. -1941 Q@Q @n @ya QV@ uw@ a mi@ U@ ,@Q

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Patented pr.7, 1942 UNITED STATES' PATENT AND OTHER USES OFFICE Ralf L.Hartwell, Orange, N. J.; assignorto Metal Textile poration ofDelawil'l'ev Application February 15,1941, 'sei-ici No. 379,'054 4claims.' (ci. ss-zoz) This invention relates to improvements in materialfor belting and other uses; and the inven` tion has reference, moreparticularly, to av novel construction of metallic fabric formed fromvimitted wire,

The invention has for an object to provide a strong, flexible andnon-stretching metallic fabric formed from knitted wire, said .fabricbeing yadapted to serve various uses', and being-especially well adaptedfor the production of metallic Corporation, West belting from whichendless belts of any .desired 1 width and length maybe produced; suchbelting being adapted to provide belts suitablefor .many purposes, suche. g. as conveyor belts, screening belts, Fourdrinier beltsl for papermaking machinery. and belts for general use.

Otherobjects of this invention, not at this time more particularlyenumerated, will be` understoodfrom the following detailed description'of the same. l

Illustrative embodiments of this invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawing, in which: F18. 1 is a face view of ai tubular knitmetallicOrange, N. J., a ecrhereinafter described. will providey a belting orother material of desired predetermined width'. Inasmuch as the circularknitting machinery is adapted to produce any desired continuous lengthof tubular knitba'sefabric III, it follows that there is no limit to thelength of belting or lother material possible to be-made.

.The tubular base fabric It comprises the usual interknit or interlinkedopen loops H, which may be selectively varied as to size by adjustmentor selection of knitting machinery uponwhich said base fabric isproduced.

A suitable length of base fabric Il having been produced, the same 'isremoved from the knitting` machinery, and thereupon processed to form fit into the ultimate flexible andnon-stretching v belting or othermaterial. To this end, the length base fabric from which the novelbelting or material for other purposes is produced; Fig. 2'is a faceview of the4 base fabric after it has been processed to produce the.novel belting or other materialaccording to this invention; and Fig. 3is' a transverse sectional view-of the belting or other material, takenon line 3-3 in Fig. 2, but drawn on an enlarged scale.

Fig'. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a double plymetallic belting made from the material shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and Fig.5

-'is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view of a single ply metallicbelting according to thisiifif. vention.

Similar characters of reference are employed in the above'describedview's,"t`o indicate'v correspending parts.

l .'I'he novel fabric of this invention is produced lateral contractionwith the added .effect of likeof base fabric Il is subjected. bysuitabielagen- 'cies, to a longitudinal stretching; Such stretching iscontinued to the point, or preferably somewhat beyond the point, oftheelastic limit of the fabric. The result of such stretching necessarilyboth lengthens and narrows the fabric, but the primary objectv thereofis to elongatethe inter-knit;l I

or interlinked loops Ii thereof in such manner as to bring the wirestrands forming the legs] t2 of the saine into lateral abutment one uponan,- other at points closely adjacent to the interlinked bights il ofsaid loopsiwhereby the loop straddling and loop embraced wire strandscontinuously abut throughout the `width of the fabrio body. By thusbringing the legs I2 of adjacent loops into such mutual abutment. theloops are caused to mutually interbrace each other laterally, thusreducing the fabric to the limit of wise limiting any further elongationor longitudinal expansion of the loops. .In this manner from knittedwire f selectedgauge laccording to the requirements of the particularusejwhich a given belt or other ultimate product produced aknittedemetallic fabric of fixed width and length, free from tendency tostretch, yield or otherwise deforin either lngitudinally or laterally isobtained, while at the same time, owing to the' interlinking of the'bights i3 of the loops, a degree of hinging or *pivotal action betweenlongitudinally adioiningloobs is retained. suilicient to assurelm'iiziti'idinalflexibilityv of the' fabric.

therefrom is to serve; i. e. the b fabric may be k'nitted from ne,medium-o co wire as may 'be best suited to la given p f o'r which a beltor other product produced therefrom-is 'to be Illustrative ol'- onemethod ofproducing the novel-belting or other'material, wire of suitable`izauge is knitted Yinto a comparatively-,loose knit tubular base fabric.il by suitable circular Imit-l ting machinery adapted to produce a'diameter thereof which.. when .atteneri and processed as 5^ The fabricresulting' from the 4described procesvsinirwill not only 'be sumcientlyflexible for beltinc and like purposes necessitating flexibility, but

.will also\withstand very considerable stress in the direction of itslength. which is likewisea necessary characteristic of'beltlngfmaterial.

When the processed fabric is used for belting,

emiiess .heus of anyaesired .ienginna width within reason may'fbereadily produced therefrom,

nanically coup 2 accesso y v combination of loose knitting withsubsequent the meeting ends of' which may be operatively joined by bwelding or by otherwise mechthe same.' 'Ehe novel belting thus provided,being of metallic material, will be sturdy and long wearing.Furthermore, owing to its interstitial or open mesh character, by reasonof the symmetrically disposed openings Il provided between the legs I1ot the interlinked loops.

composing the same, the belting is admirably `adapted for use' inconveyer belts, especially where a non-dust collecting belt surface isdesired; and, for the same reason, is also well-v loop stretching byagencies incorporated in the i knitting machinery per se.

adapted-to provide belts of screening character in cases-where a belt ofscreening or filtering function is required. lIn the latter class ofbelts are `lourdrinier aprons or belts for paper making machines, andthe processed knitted fabric of this invention is well adapted to servein such connection, in which case the fabric would be knitted from veryfine wire, and would be used with the loop bight side thereof at itsunderside.

When the belting fabric is made from'flattened Y tubular knit basefabric, the belting or .othermaterial produced therefrom is of two-plycharacter, which rendersthe same exceedingly strong and durable.However, thenprocessed fabric or iinished b'elting or other material maylikewise be produced in a single ply form, as indicated in Fig. 5, and,in such case, the base fabric may be of nat or warp knit character insingle ply, or a tubular knit base fabric may be split and the raw edgessuitably secured against raveling; such single ply base fabrics beingprocessed by stretching in suitable 'manner and by suitable agencies toand preferably somewhat beyond the limit of its longitudinal elasticity.

l While the use of the novel knitted fabric for belting has beenemphasized, it willr be obvious that there aremany other uses tokwhichthe saine may be put wherein the requirement is for a `flexible andnon-stretching metallic fabric Having now described my invention. what Iclaim is:

1. A metsme fabric for the purposes described y comprising, 4a body ofknitted wire wherein the knitted loops thereof have been stretchedlengthwise to theirJ .elastic limit to provide the same with straighttaut legs disposed in lateral abutment oneupon another at points closelyadjacent to the interlinked bights of longitudinally connected loops,whereby thev loop straddling and loop embraced wire strands are disposedin continuous and laterally aligned abutment throughout the width of thefabric body so as to limit both lateral contractionand longitudinalstretch of the fbric. y

2. A metallic fabric for the purposes described comprising, a body ofinitially loosely knitted wire, Awhich body has been stretchedlengthwise to its elastic linut, and wherein the knitted loops thereofhavetheir legs permanently disposed in lateral abutment one upon anotherat points closely adjacent to the interlinked bights of longitudinallyconnectedloops so that the loop straddling and loop embraced wirestrandscon-- tinuously abut throughout the width of the body to limitboth lateral contraction and longitudinal stretch of the latter.

3. A flattened tubular body of initially loosely knitted wire, whichbody has` been stretched lengthwise to its elastic limit, and whereinthe llnterlin'ked bights of transverse rows of the sheet or strip, andespecially a' sheet or strip vin the manner above set forth, -it isnevertheless recognized that the same. may possibly be produced by adirect knitting operation) or by a knitted loops thereof have theirsides in mutually abutting relation so as to interbraceeach otherlaterally throughout the width of the body, to

thereby limit both lateral contraction and longitudinal stretch of thelatter.

4. A flattened tubular body of initially loosely knitted` wire, whichbody has been 'stretched lengthwise to its elastic limit whereby theknitted loops thereof have their legs disposed in lateral abutment vtineupon`- another at points closely adjacent to the interlinked bightsvoflongitudinally adjoiningloops and throughout the width of the body, '-tothereby limit both lateral con.

traction and longitudinal stretch of said body. RALF L. HARTWELL.

